Les Amis de Hogwarts
by Carnivalgirl
Summary: Many years after the end of the war, a group of Hogwarts students see their families' victories steadily go to waste as old prejudices return. They decide to fight back before it's too late. But what if their ambitions are used against them? Third & Fourth Gen. Includes Teddy, Victoire, James, Louis and others. Draws inspiration from the musical Les Misérables.
1. A Heart Full of Love

**Les Amis de Hogwarts**

**A Heart Full of Love**

**January, 2042**

**Hogwarts**

He saw her once, talking to her old man after lessons. She hadn't done her historical narrative essay, and as Daniel Finnigan walked past the open classroom door he knew from their body language that both Professor Lupin and his daughter had had this argument before.

'You're too much like your mum, you know...'

Rachel turned her head lazily, and suddenly her eyes met his.

She was impossibly beautiful – he'd probably seen her over a thousand times now, but lately every time he got a full glimpse of her face, a vice squeezed his heart and he wanted to cry out in pain like the lovers in the paintings in the Hogwarts corridors. She didn't command that kind of attention; her hair, which she'd inherited from her mother (Victoire Weasley to the public, Professor Lupin's Hot Wife to his dorm mates) looked unkempt most of the time from her persistent habit of ruffling it, and she definitely didn't wear make-up, he knew this from sitting next to her in class. Her Gryffindor uniform was put together with minimum effort at neatness or style. Most importantly, despite rumours she was a Metamorphmagus like her father and grandmother, he was reliably informed by Annabella Boot that she had never altered her features.

And yet looking at her was like looking at a rose; he registered her heart-shaped face, expressive blue eyes, delicate chin and rounded nose as unquestionably, categorically, the definition of beauty and still she struck him every time. He loved the world just because she was in it.

Every one of these thoughts went through his mind as he stood and looked at her, to the point where Professor Lupin followed his daughter's gaze and said, in his soft teacher voice;

'Who's there? Do you want something?'

Oh, Merlin, he didn't know what to say. He couldn't even pretend he was lost, since he was a seventh year and everything. He just ran a hand through his hair and pulled his best 'I'm not doing or thinking anything important, pay no attention to me' expression, which was tough for a Finnigan.

Rachel smiled and lifted her hand, just enough for him to see, and turned away again, addressing her father. Daniel took it as a cue to amble away and lean forlornly on a nearby windowsill.

His default state was 'hopelessly in love with Rachel Lupin'.


	2. The Dark of Ages Past

**A/N: **Un grand Merci aux readers, and to **DontCallMeNymphadora4** for reviewing. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

**The Dark of Ages Past**

Rachel watched as Daniel wandered away and wondered for a moment if she could find him later. She owed him a conversation, though she didn't know if they even had much in common these days. He'd always seemed so adorably 'average teenage wizard' she even wondered if he was better off without her friendship.

'Rachel,' Dad's voice called her back to the present. She felt even more strongly that she just didn't want to have this conversation.

'OK, OK, narrative essay. I'm sorry.'

He sighed the sigh that meant he was slipping back from Professor Edward Lupin to Dad, and she knew he knew she wasn't all that sorry.

'I honestly don't know what to do here.'

She shrugged. 'Give me detention.'

'I don't give my NEWT students detention. You're old enough to discipline yourselves. Think about what that means for once, Rachel.'

She couldn't bear it any longer; if she couldn't talk about it her magic would talk for her, end she'd probably break something.

'Dad, did you see the paper today?'

'What?'

'Did you see it?'

He shook his head lightly. 'I had breakfast in my office this morning.'

She reached into her bag, a battered leather thing covered in peeling political stickers, and handed him a copy. 'It's page eight,' she said. She'd already read it forty times, each time hoping she'd misread.

Dad opened it over the desk and flicked to the right page. In a split second he seemed to lose energy, and streaks of dull brown appeared in his bright orange hair.

_**WEREWOLF RESEARCH COMMITTEE CLOSES TOMORROW**_

_The pioneering Ministry research committee, having in its prime received worldwide accolades, has announced that it will close tomorrow as, despite generous private donations, the Ministry's cuts to its funding have made it impossible to pursue their projects, the main of which being to cure the disorder._

'It really happened,' he said, after a moment. He looked up at her, and before she could get a grip it she burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. She felt his arms wrap around her, and his hands pat her back just as lovingly as when she was a little girl and needed him to convince her she was brave.

'There, now...it'll be OK. They'll find a way.'

She hugged back, holding him tightly, not caring for once if anyone walking past might see. 'What's going to happen to Uncle Louis? He's lost his job.'

Dad paused for a little too long. 'Troy has a good job, they can live on his income for a bit.'

'And what if Uncle Troy loses his job? The Ministry don't want werewolves to have anything good.' Rachel snapped. Louis and Troy had changed her nappies and helped her learn to walk. She, along with the rest of the family, had watched with awe as Louis got closer and closer to his dream of curing Troy himself. And then, of course, impossible to forget, there was her grandfather, Remus Lupin, who she'd always missed, even if she'd never known him. It was too much for her to bear. She half-sobbed, half-screamed. 'IT'S NOT FAIR.'

Dad was silent for a long time, but she felt his muscles shake under her arms. What emotion was possessing him, she didn't know, but she felt a tiny bit comforted by it.

'This won't go on,' he finally said. 'Someone will do something.'

Rachel whispered, barely audibly, into his ear. 'That someone is me.'


	3. Never Mine To Lose

**Never Mine To Lose**

The signs were removed from the door, the papers archived in various secure places, and the Werewolf Research Committee was indefinitely closed for business. Louis had had the idea that he would not let unemployment get to him. He'd get up at seven like he always had and look for jobs from nine 'til five, pausing here and there to do chores and childcare. It wouldn't be much fun, of course, but routine would help.

Then, the very first day, a Thursday, he opened his eyes and it was already twenty to ten and the sun was fully risen. Letting out a very quiet groan, he got up and dressed quickly – that was another thing he noticed instantly, he could go straight to his casual robes – and rushed downstairs to the kitchen.

He did have something to grab his attention in the kitchen, a ripped corner of parchment being weighed down by an empty mug. Troy left the house at half past six each morning, to start at St. Mungo's for seven. He didn't usually leave notes unless there was a chore to do – despite being the busiest, he was always the first to notice.

_Lou,_

_Take care of yourself today and relax. We can afford for you to start job hunting Monday! I've taken the kids to the breakfast club at school so you don't have to worry about getting them ready. _

_I said this last night, and I'll say it again later – even if you never get to cure or even research lycanthropy again, I will always love you and be grateful to you for trying to help me and people like me. I never dreamed I'd be so fortunate. I love you, I love you, I love you._

_Troy_

_PS. We're almost out of cat food, would you mind picking some up? Thank you xx_

Louis hunched his shoulders as a lump came to his throat, the sense of reassurance combining unpleasantly with the reminder that the functional aspect of their marriage had shifted heavily overnight. Troy was more than capable of being a sole breadwinner; he had a natural Healer's way of seeing through the heartache to the next steps. Louis, though he tried his best, found his heart and soul easily attached to everything he did and went through.

He made a coffee and turned on the wireless. It was too easy to interpret everything as a reinforcement of this situation. The closure of the committee had been duly reported in a few sentences, at least Louis hoped it had, and now they were wittering on about dresses, and there was no denying the democratic validity of this. He closed his eyes and pictured Troy and the kids, and told himself that he was still the same person he had always been, that he was not to blame for what had happened to him and the committee. This was simply a neutral business decision.

_"The Minister's daughter is taking her time looking for wedding dresses. Rumour has it, listeners, that her old man's set aside a budget of ten thousand Galleons..."_


End file.
